The Cat in the Box - Part II

 

As Time Goes By

 

               Looking back, time really did move quickly. The first photo I took with my phone is dated November, and Lady’s Jane’s big transition didn’t occur until August, but it seems like everything happened so fast. Yet, time also moved slowly. The slow time was critical for the fast time; there would have been no fast time without the slow time. Isn’t it like this with much of life?

               A couple is building a home across the street from us. It seemed as if it would take forever for the land to be cleared, the lot to be graded, the footing to be poured, the water and sewer lines installed, the slab to be poured, and the foundation to be completed. However, once all of this happened things moved quickly (at least for a while!).

               When we had a vegetable garden I knew the cycles of soil preparation, seed and seedling planting, watering and feeding, weeding, training plants up to grow, protection from critters and insects and disease, and eventually harvest. Often when harvest arrived it came in bunches, quickly, demanding to be picked and processed and enjoyed and given away. In vegetable gardening we have s-l-o-w times so that we can enjoy fast times.

               The slow time with Lady Jane, November through July, consisted of taking time with her, mostly on our rear deck. This included making sure water was available for her, providing food, sitting on the deck and talking to her, being patient as she came nearer and nearer to us as time passed. We began opening the back door of our home to her to give her the option of coming inside to explore.

               Princess was a help during all this because Princess liked us and not only came up to us for pets and to give us affection, but she was also curious about the open door and eventually made some expeditions inside to explore the new terrain. Lady Jane observed all this.

               As the weather grew warmer Lady Jane went from sleeping in her condo to on a deck chair just outside the door. I’d look for her first thing in the morning and be relieved when I saw her and anxious when I didn’t. When I didn’t see her, I’d call for her, sometimes she’d come and sometimes she wouldn’t. Princess/Duchess would always come. Sometimes it might be 30 minutes or more before Lady Jane showed up. Occasionally it might be an hour or more.

               I know what you’re thinking. “She’s an outdoor cat, what do you expect?”

               Fair enough, but she was capturing our hearts.

 

The BIG Decision

 

               On the night of August 1, we had a terrible storm, lightning, thunder, sheets of rain, wind. A bolt of lightning struck a 100-foot-tall pine tree 15 feet from our home and shook our house and those of our neighbors. Where was Lady Jane though all of this? Was she safe? She must be frightened. We’d open the door and call for her, but no Lady Jane.

               The next morning I called and called for her, I walked around our house multiple times…no cat. I walked around the neighborhood, praying, hoping, looking, worrying. No Lady Jane.

               Then, as I returned home and walked up on the back deck I saw her on the other side of the deck, but she wouldn’t approach me. She looked at me, but as I called her in a soft voice and went toward her, she moved away. I brought some food out in a bowl and left it on the deck and went back inside.

               As the day wore on we were finally able to go outside without her running away.

               At this point we decided to try to get her to spend nights inside, we’d try to make an indoor-outdoor cat out of her.

               Within the next week we were able to get her to come inside in the evening, which led to a test of wills – would we let her out on her schedule or ours? Some mornings she was let out earlier than others, 3:00 AM, 4:00 AM, 5:00 AM. It depended on how much noise she made by pawing at the venetian blinds and the door sill. Even though we raised the blinds, she kept finding ways to make noise. She doesn’t have a loud voice, so that wasn’t much of a factor, but she was persistent in behavior which yelled, “Let me out now!”

               In the evenings sometimes she’d come inside of her own accord, other times we’d pick her up and bring her inside.

               One evening she didn’t show up on the deck to come in. She’d been around during the day and things seemed normal, but as evening came there was no Lady Jane. During the night I’d get out of bed and go to the deck to look for her, calling for her; no Lady Jane.

               With sunrise I was outside, walking around the house, sitting on the deck, calling for her, watching and waiting and…yes…praying.

               Finally she appeared. Tentatively she climbed the stairs to the deck, warily she approached me. She had a scratch next to an eye and looked exhausted; she had little energy. I picked her up and brought her inside. We fed her and she slept for hours.

               That was the last night that Lady Jane spent outdoors. In fact, it was the last time that Lady Jane was outdoors. That was when we made the Big Decision to keep her inside, explaining to her that from now on she was an indoor cat. We couldn’t take the risk of anymore injuries…we loved her.

               The Cat in the Box had become the Cat in our Hearts.